Cheyenne Marie Mize

Cheyenne Marie Mize shouldn't quit her day job—not because she shows no promise as a solo artist updating old-time sounds to modern-day concerns, but because her occupation obviously informs her songwriting. When she's not touring, Mize works as a music therapist in her hometown of Louisville, Ky., using songs from various eras and genres to help hospital patients deal with stress and communication issues. Her deceptively simple folk songs certainly play with ideas of confession and disconnection, but her music isn't strictly therapeutic or cathartic. Rather, the most pressing lesson she's learned from that day job is how to mold and shapes sound for maximum impact.

Along with her dusky voice and multi-instrumental prowess, that particular talent has made her popular in the Louisville scene, where the classically trained violinist has played with Americana bands like Arnett Hollow, Maiden Radio and Thomas A. Minor & the Picket Line. Through that last gig, Mize backed Bonnie "Prince" Billy in the late 2000s; in 2009, the pair collaborated on an EP titled Among the Gold, which collected half a dozen covers of 19th-century parlor ballads. While it only had a limited release, that EP introduced Mize to a new and much larger audience.

Still, it's her full-length debut, Before Lately, released by Louisville-based SonaBLAST! Records, that best showcases her unique sound. A fine singer and often a devastatingly incisive lyricist, Mize excels as a careful arranger, specializing in a folksy restraint that creates both space and depth. Mize played all the instruments on the album, but that same minimalism translates to the stage, where a small band—just a guitar player and a drummer—help Mize lodge her songs deep into your brain. —Stephen Deusner